Pages

Thursday, 24 January 2013

As the title says, be the first to know whenever there is something new and exciting happening in the world of Paolo Storey and his creator (that's me, Frances di Plino). Get all the inside info on the characters and the author. Find out what makes them tick and win prizes.Yes, that's right - be in with a chance of wining prizes in FREE competitions, simply by subscribing to the newsletter. From time to time I'll be giving away free books, offering entry into fun competitions and sending out advance notice of what will be happening next in the Paolo Storey series.

The first 100 email addresses will go into a free prize draw to win an e-book copy of Bad Moon Rising, published by Crooked Cat Publishing. If you are already the proud owner of the first in the Paolo Storey series, don't worry, there is a prize for you, too. Should your email address be pulled out, and you already have Bad Moon Rising, you will be sent a free e-book copy of the next in the series, Someday Never Comes, as soon as it is released.So, what happens next? Simply fill in the form below and hope that your email address is one of the first 100 to register.

Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Detective Inspector Paolo Storey has found a few minutes to
answer some personal questions. Paolo is the hero of Bad Moon Rising (published by Crooked Cat Publishing) and is currently midway through solving more crimes
in the second in the series, Someday
Never Comes, which I hope will be available later this year.

Describe
yourself to me.

I’m just over six feet tall, have dark brown hair, hazel eyes and scar
on my cheek in the shape of a crescent. I have my Italian mother’s olive
complexion, but my Scottish father’s features.

How did you
get the scar?

Many years ago, a criminal I was chasing threw a full can of beer at me
as he ran. It hit me in the face and the rim cut into my cheek, leaving me with
the scar. It bled so much, by the time I caught him I looked like I’d been
through an abattoir.

What would
you say was the defining event in your life?

My daughter was killed in a deliberate hit and run. I had my back to the
car, but Sarah was facing it and saw the driver aiming for me. She pushed me
out of the way and the car hit her instead. She saved me but died in my place. I
haven’t yet found the driver of the car, but I will one day.

Did you turn
out the way you expected? The way your parents predicted?

My mother died when I was quite young, so I don’t really know what she
would have predicted for me. My father wanted me to go to university and become
a doctor, so I definitely didn’t live up to his expectations.

What moves
you, or touches your soul?

Seeing my other daughter, Katy, smile. She looks like my mother and when
she smiles the entire world lights up.

What are
your strengths?

I never give up. I cannot bear to let criminals get away with anything
and want to hunt down every last person who has preyed on another human being
in some way.

What are
your weaknesses?

I never give up. I don’t know how to let go of lost causes.

If it were
possible, what superpower would you have?

That’s a difficult one. I think I’d like to have super hearing, so that
I could eavesdrop on lowlifes and stop them before they commit their crimes.
But that would also mean I’d hear things I shouldn’t, so maybe that’s not such
a good idea.

What’s the
worst thing you’ve ever done?

I shut down and wouldn’t let anyone get close to me after Sarah died. As
a result, my ex-wife had to deal with her grief alone. She has never forgiven me
and I don’t blame her. I’ve never forgiven myself for adding to her pain.

What are you
most afraid of?

Losing my other daughter. It’s a bad world out there and she’s already
been through so much. If I could wrap her in cotton wool, I would, but she
wouldn’t thank me for it. She’s very feisty.

What, if
anything, would you change about your life?

I’d go back in time and give Lydia, my ex-wife, the support she needed
after Sarah died.

Thursday, 17 January 2013

Nancy Jardine, author of The Beltane Choice and Topaz Eyes, interviewed me on her blog, She said, He said. Find out more about my
writing, my other persona, my characters and what happens to Detective
Inspector Paolo Storey and his team in Someday Never Comes, the sequel to Bad Moon Rising.

Wednesday, 9 January 2013

I have to start by putting in a disclaimer – I have read
every one of Michael Connelly’s books and love his style of writing, so I might
not be as unbiased as I should be when writing this review. No surprise then that I loved The Drop!

Harry Bosch, now back after a brief retirement, is working
on open and unsolved cases. His current workload consists of an old sex crime, with
some very suspect DNA results, and the (apparent) suicide of the son of
one of Harry’s old enemies, a local politician who has made no secret of his
dislike of Harry – a dislike bordering on hatred.

We move through both cases as Harry’s private life becomes
increasingly difficult, in the shape of his teenage daughter with whom he is
trying to build a relationship.

When Harry’s investigations uncover some dark doings in the
force and local government, he is encouraged to look the other way. But that
has never been Harry’s path through life. When he sees corruption, he has to
root it out and this book is no different in that regard.

Added to his troubles are his doubts about his partner,
David Chu. Something else he has to resolve in order to get to the truth.

There is more soul searching than in most Harry Bosch
novels, but that simply adds to the enjoyment of the story.

As I said, I might be biased, but there are few writers on a
par with Michael Connelly and this book is right up there with his best.

Monday, 7 January 2013

I’ve decided to conduct the interviews in the order in which
characters appear in the novel. As Bad Moon Rising open with the killer in the act of saving someone’s soul, he
gets to go first.

Obviously, in this interview he won’t want to tell us who he
is, but we can find out a lot about how his mind works.

Describe yourself to
me.

This is so typical of the way the world is today. Why would
your first question be to ask about my looks? What I look like isn’t important.
What is important is my work – my reason for being on God’s earth. I am here
solely to do his will.

What would you say
was the defining event in your life?

The day my mother showed me how to keep myself pure. It was
on that day I discovered that she loved me and wanted to keep me free from
temptation.

Did you turn out the
way you expected? The way your parents predicted?

I have no idea what my father wanted for me. He was a weak
man. He couldn’t control his base urges, which caused my mother great
heartache. I am fulfilling my mother’s destiny by purifying the souls of
sinners, so I think she would be proud of my work.

What moves you, or
touches your soul?

The only time I am moved is when I mark a former sinner to
guide her into God’s arms. At that moment, my soul soars upwards with hers.

What are your
strengths?

I am single-minded, determined and let nothing stand between
me and my goal.

What are your weaknesses?

I would rather not answer that.

I’m sorry; I have to
insist you answer all questions. What are your weaknesses?

I … I have … urges like my father. Sometimes it is hard to
hold back and wait to mark the sinners. Sometimes … my Dearest Lord, I’m so sorry,
but sometimes I am weak. I want to do more than mark them. Dear God, I feel so
ashamed. Sometimes I want to enter their foul bodies.

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
to upset you. Let’s move on. If it were possible, what superpower would you
have?

I would choose to fly, so that I could simply swoop in and
carry off the souls to be saved, rather than picking them up by car. I’d be
able to work faster.

What’s the worst
thing you’ve ever done?

In the past I allowed lust to take over my mind, but I have
since found ways to control and use my urges to carry out God’s great plan.

What are you most
afraid of?

Nothing. I have the Lord on my side. As long as I do his
bidding, I have nothing to fear.

What, if anything,
would you change about your life?

If I could go back in time and change just one thing, I
would have started God’s work earlier. Tell me, Ms di Plino, are you pure enough
to live, or would you like me to help you find the Lord?

Um, thank you for
your honest and unflinching answers. I think it’s time I found somewhere safe
to hide until you’re caught.

God has made sure that I can never be caught because I don’t
exist.

~~~

Next week I’ll be interviewing Detective Inspector Paolo
Storey. In the meantime, I’m going to barricade myself in a safe room.